Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to the field of pulmonary treatments, and specifically to methods of sealing fistulas and ruptures in a lung or trachea.
Description of the Related Art
Described herein are systems and methods for sealing an airway rupture or fistula to stop, reduce, and/or control leaks of lung airways that have been damaged or have a defect. Also disclosed are systems and methods for controlling a transfer of a fluid, gas and/or liquid between two spaces. One common clinical condition in which such transfer can occur is called a “stump leak” fistula.
A stump is the remnant of an airway that has been resected as close as possible to its anatomical origin. Stump leaks can occur after a surgery has been performed to remove a lobe (lobectomy) or a whole lung (pneumonectomy). During surgery, the lung tissue is resected, as well as the airways and blood vessels that feed that portion of lung tissue. Therefore, during the resection, the surgeon will attempt to cut the tissue as close as possible to its anatomical origin.
After resection, stump leaks may occur because it is sometimes difficult to cut and completely seal the large diameter airways. Another cause of a stump leak could be the dehiscence of sutures that were keeping the airway(s) closed. As a consequence, in the post-surgical phase, the defect will produce leakage of air and/or fluid into the thoracic cavity. Another cause of stump leak could be an infection in the vicinity of a sutured airway. Such an infection could degrade the tissue surrounding the suture and cause stump leaks and other fistulas to form.
Some solutions have been developed for the treatment of fistulas and ruptures of the lung and/or trachea. For example, treatment methods such as pleurodesis, the use of lasers, cryoablation, cauterization and/or the placement of packing materials into the fistula/rupture have been used. Some of these solutions, however, have significant drawbacks. For example, pleurodesis may not work in the context of pneumonectomies because there is no lung pleura to attach to the chest wall pleura. Due to the inherent limitations of many of the above treatment methods and devices, there remains a need for improvement to devices and methods for the treatment of airway fistulas and/or ruptures.